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href="https://sapphrapoetry.substack.com/feed" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml"/><copyright><![CDATA[Sapphra Poetry]]></copyright><language><![CDATA[en]]></language><webMaster><![CDATA[sapphrapoetry@substack.com]]></webMaster><itunes:owner><itunes:email><![CDATA[sapphrapoetry@substack.com]]></itunes:email><itunes:name><![CDATA[Sapphra | Poetry]]></itunes:name></itunes:owner><itunes:author><![CDATA[Sapphra | Poetry]]></itunes:author><googleplay:owner><![CDATA[sapphrapoetry@substack.com]]></googleplay:owner><googleplay:email><![CDATA[sapphrapoetry@substack.com]]></googleplay:email><googleplay:author><![CDATA[Sapphra | Poetry]]></googleplay:author><itunes:block><![CDATA[Yes]]></itunes:block><item><title><![CDATA[Midnight Train]]></title><description><![CDATA[A poem of self-possession]]></description><link>https://sapphrapoetry.substack.com/p/midnight-train-poem</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://sapphrapoetry.substack.com/p/midnight-train-poem</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[Sapphra | Poetry]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Thu, 28 May 2026 12:01:06 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!i3PI!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ffc05f146-5ced-4ebd-8d4b-0a8859637a84_1200x630.png" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<p></p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://sapphrapoetry.substack.com/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe now&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://sapphrapoetry.substack.com/subscribe?"><span>Subscribe now</span></a></p><div><hr></div><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" 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srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!i3PI!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ffc05f146-5ced-4ebd-8d4b-0a8859637a84_1200x630.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!i3PI!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ffc05f146-5ced-4ebd-8d4b-0a8859637a84_1200x630.png 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!i3PI!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ffc05f146-5ced-4ebd-8d4b-0a8859637a84_1200x630.png 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!i3PI!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ffc05f146-5ced-4ebd-8d4b-0a8859637a84_1200x630.png 1456w" sizes="100vw" fetchpriority="high"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg role="img" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><title></title><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><div><hr></div><p><em>This poem follows a woman&#8217;s solitary rite of bodily sovereignty. It moves from an initial awakening to an intense culmination. It ends with a clear declaration: her body does not answer the world&#8217;s demand for softness and compromise.</em></p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://sapphrapoetry.substack.com/?utm_source=substack&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_content=share&amp;action=share&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Share Sapphra Undone | Poetry&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://sapphrapoetry.substack.com/?utm_source=substack&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_content=share&amp;action=share"><span>Share Sapphra Undone | Poetry</span></a></p><div><hr></div><h3><em>Midnight Train</em></h3><p>The midnight train does not pass&#8212;<br>it enters.</p><p>It comes in low,<br>a vibration before sound,<br>a disturbance in the quiet architecture of night.</p><p>The rails hum first,<br>then the walls,<br>then the bones of the house take it in<br>like a confession.</p><p>It reaches me through the floorboards.<br>Through the mattress.<br>Through the slender landscape<br>where fabric meets skin.</p><p>It does not ask permission<br>to know me.</p><p>It climbs my spine deliberately,<br>vertebra by vertebra,<br>a measured ascent&#8212;<br>as if it has done this before,<br>as if I have.</p><p>It settles<br>without asking<br>between my thighs.</p><p>I don&#8217;t move.</p><p>I let it arrive.<br>Let it map me.</p><p>The room is dim<br>dense and suspended<br>where darkness isn&#8217;t absence<br>but presence&#8212;<br>thick,<br>pressing,<br>almost warm.</p><p>The sheets hold the memory of me.<br>Cotton dragged across collarbone,<br>over the slope of breast,<br>catching faintly on my nipples,<br>already alert,<br>already listening.</p><p>There is a faint roughness of fabric.<br>A subtle resistance.</p><p>Reminds me I am surface.<br>Texture.<br>Something to be met.</p><p>Even now,<br>even alone,<br>I can be touched,<br>even if the only hands here<br>are mine.</p><p>I shift just slightly<br>enough to hear it&#8212;<br>that whisper.</p><p>Cloth against skin.<br>That small, private sound.<br>That almost-sound.</p><p>More intimate than silence.</p><p>My perfume has warmed into me.</p><p>Jasmine at first&#8212;<br>soft, almost innocent&#8212;<br>but beneath, a darkness<br>has opened.</p><p>A heat held too long.<br>Closer to skin than flower.<br>Something that lingers after touch.</p><p>I draw air low into my belly<br>as if I can pull it deeper,<br>as if scent alone<br>can reach places hands have not.</p><p>My body answers without consultation.<br>A tightening.<br>A pulse.</p><p>My nipples peak hard,<br>as if the air itself has touched them.<br>My breath shifts&#8212;<br>not faster yet,<br>but heavier,<br>weighted.</p><p>There is a gathering happening.<br>Not visible,<br>but undeniable.</p><p>The fan turns above me<br>with a steady, indifferent rhythm.<br>It moves the air across my skin<br>like a cool mouth.</p><p>Collarbone.<br>Sternum.<br>The hollow between my breasts.</p><p>It slips lower<br>without touching,<br>and that almost-touch<br>is worse.</p><p>It makes me aware of everything.</p><p>Every inch of skin becomes a threshold.<br>Every pore opens<br>as if expecting more.</p><p>I am suddenly inside myself<br>in a way that feels irreversible.</p><p>The way hunger arrives:<br>not gradual,<br>but total.</p><p>I lie still<br>because stillness amplifies it.</p><p>My pulse is everywhere now.</p><p>Neck.<br>Wrists.<br>Behind my knees.<br>Deep between my legs,<br>where I have not yet touched<br>but already feel<br>as if I have been touched.</p><p>The darkness presses closer.<br>It does not hide me&#8212;<br>it sharpens me.</p><p>In the waking hours,<br>my body belongs to function,<br>to movement,<br>to being seen.</p><p>Here,<br>it belongs only to sensation.</p><p>I can taste the room.</p><p>It&#8217;s stale in the way closed spaces are,<br>but threaded with a sweetness&#8212;<br>my own breath returning to me,<br>warm,<br>used.</p><p>I drag my tongue slowly across my teeth,<br>then against the inside of my cheek,<br>and there I am.</p><p>Salt.<br>Skin.<br>Self.</p><p>My thighs press together<br>reflexively.</p><p>Not tightly.<br>Not yet.</p><p>Just enough to feel<br>what exists between them.</p><p>Enough to wake it.</p><p>Heat responds immediately.</p><p>It gathers like a secret<br>being told for the first time.</p><p>There is the smallest shift&#8212;<br>a dampness,<br>a readiness,<br>a quiet yes.</p><p>My body knows the story<br>before I decide to tell it.</p><p>My hand lifts.</p><p>That alone feels significant.<br>Intent made physical.</p><p>I touch my collarbone first,<br>as if beginning at the surface<br>will delay what I already want.</p><p>My fingertips follow the arc of bone,<br>the soft valley of my neck,<br>and fall like a silent river<br>down the center of my being.</p><p>My palm rests briefly over my heart.</p><p>It is faster now.</p><p>Not frantic&#8212;<br>focused.</p><p>The train sounds again.</p><p>Closer this time.</p><p>More insistent.</p><p>It doesn&#8217;t pass through the world anymore.<br>It passes through me.</p><p>And I think,<br>Free from softness,<br>without apology:</p><p>this is what solitude can be<br>when it refuses absence<br>and becomes permission.</p><p>My hand moves lower.</p><p>There is a moment&#8212;<br>a fraction of hesitation&#8212;<br>not doubt,<br>but awareness.</p><p>Then contact.</p><p>My fingers find my clit.</p><p>The first touch is sharp.<br>Almost too bright.</p><p>Like touching a current.</p><p>My breath catches,<br>then deepens around it.</p><p>I circle slowly,<br>not to tease,<br>but to listen.</p><p>Each movement sends energy outward&#8212;<br>not simply pleasure,<br>but recognition.</p><p>My pelvis responds.<br>Then my belly,<br>low and heavy.<br>Then my thighs,<br>which open slightly<br>instinctively.</p><p>There is wetness already.</p><p>More than I expected.</p><p>It coats my fingers<br>as if it has been waiting.</p><p>Warm.<br>Thick.<br>Alive.</p><p>I spread it deliberately.</p><p>Feel how easily I open under my own hand.</p><p>The scent rises&#8212;<br>musk,<br>salt,<br>unmistakably animal.</p><p>Proof.</p><p>Not for anyone else.</p><p>For me.</p><p>I lean back,<br>weight shifting into my palm.</p><p>Gravity changes everything.</p><p>Blood moves downward,<br>collects,<br>floods.</p><p>My body coalesces<br>into one place,<br>as if the rest of me<br>is only there to support this.</p><p>My breath finds rhythm.</p><p>Not learned.<br>Remembered.</p><p>My hips begin to move.</p><p>A flicker of motion.</p><p>A tilt.<br>A slow, unconscious rocking.</p><p>Then more.</p><p>My body slipping into a language<br>that predates thought.</p><p>I don&#8217;t stop it.</p><p>I don&#8217;t correct it.</p><p>I let it speak.</p><p>My fingers glide lower.</p><p>I pause just at the entrance.</p><p>Feel the heat there.<br>The softness.<br>The readiness.</p><p>Then I press in.</p><p>Two fingers.</p><p>Slow.</p><p>My pussy opens around them<br>without resistance.</p><p>Welcoming is too soft a word.</p><p>It takes them.</p><p>The way a mouth takes.<br>The way a door yields inward<br>because it was never locked.</p><p>I feel myself from the inside.</p><p>The walls of me<br>tighten,<br>then release,<br>then tighten again.</p><p>A living response.</p><p>Not passive.</p><p>Participating.</p><p>I push deeper.</p><p>My breath breaks slightly.</p><p>There is that moment&#8212;<br>that unmistakable sensation&#8212;<br>of entering myself<br>fully.</p><p>As if I have crossed a threshold<br>I built unknowing.</p><p>I begin to move.</p><p>Slow at first,<br>testing depth,<br>angle,<br>pressure.</p><p>Then harder.</p><p>More deliberate.</p><p>Each thrust sends a sharp current upward.</p><p>I curl my fingers,<br>searching.</p><p>There.</p><p>That place.</p><p>Not mythical&#8212;<br>physical.</p><p>Exact.</p><p>When it reveals itself,<br>my body reacts instantly.</p><p>A jolt.<br>A pulse.<br>A tightening that radiates outward.</p><p>I hit it again.</p><p>And again.</p><p>With every motion,<br>my palm grazes the swell of my clit<br>and somehow everything is connected&#8212;</p><p>inside,<br>outside,<br>center,<br>edge.</p><p>My head falls back slightly,<br>but my eyes stay open.</p><p>I turn toward the mirror.</p><p>And I see her.</p><p>I see myself.</p><p>My hips moving with intention.<br>My mouth parted.<br>My face unguarded.</p><p>There is no performance here.</p><p>No audience.</p><p>Just consumption.</p><p>I am taking from myself<br>without restraint.</p><p>My eyes don&#8217;t leave my reflection.</p><p>I watch the flush climb my chest,<br>spill into my neck,<br>color my face.</p><p>I watch my body become<br>utterly undeniable.</p><p>Not pretty.<br>Not composed.</p><p>Alive.</p><p>Hungry.</p><p>Exact.</p><p>The room breathes with the sound of me.</p><p>Wet.<br>Rhythmic.<br>Unhidden.</p><p>It is a music unto itself.<br>Unyielding in its nature.<br>Not meant to be translated.</p><p>I add a third finger.</p><p>The stretch is immediate.</p><p>Sharp at the edges.</p><p>That line bridging pleasure and pain<br>appears<br>and holds.</p><p>I stay there.</p><p>Press into it.</p><p>Because that edge<br>is where everything sharpens.</p><p>Where sensation stops being gentle<br>and becomes truth.</p><p>I fuck myself harder.</p><p>There is no softness in it.</p><p>Only insistence.</p><p>My cunt meets my hand<br>with equal force.</p><p>My thighs tremble.</p><p>My back arches.</p><p>My soul is reaching&#8212;<br>not outward,<br>but inward,<br>toward itself.</p><p>The air between my legs is hot.</p><p>Heavy.</p><p>Charged.</p><p>My breathing fractures.</p><p>Breaks into pieces.</p><p>Reforms as a rawness.</p><p>My orgasm does not creep.</p><p>It builds.</p><p>Fast.</p><p>Relentless.</p><p>A vow sealed in flesh,<br>my pussy grips my fingers,<br>a silent plea for them to stay.</p><p>The contractions begin early&#8212;<br>small,<br>tight,<br>repeating.</p><p>Then stronger.</p><p>Pulling me deeper.</p><p>I hold my gaze, wide and unwavering.</p><p>I refuse to disappear from this.</p><p>I watch myself cross into it.</p><p>My mouth opens wider.<br>My hips lose rhythm,<br>then find a wilder one.</p><p>Control dissolves<br>into something more precise.</p><p>Then it breaks.</p><p>The release hits hard.</p><p>Not a wave&#8212;<br>a rupture.</p><p>It tears through me<br>like something long-contained<br>has finally found exit.</p><p>Electric.<br>Total.</p><p>My pussy contracts around my hand,<br>over and over,<br>each pulse carving deeper than the one before.</p><p>I keep moving.</p><p>One is never enough to satisfy my seeking.</p><p>I ride it.</p><p>Press beyond it.</p><p>Take everything my body offers.</p><p>No negotiation.</p><p>No apology.</p><p>Just continuation.</p><p>The waves keep coming.</p><p>Less explosive,<br>but deeper.</p><p>Rolling within me,<br>layered,<br>generous.</p><p>My clit is almost too sensitive,<br>but I stay with it.</p><p>Because almost too much<br>has become exactly right.</p><p>Eventually,<br>my body begins to release me.</p><p>The contractions slow.</p><p>The urgency softens.</p><p>My hand stills.</p><p>Then slowly,<br>I withdraw.</p><p>My fingers slide out,<br>slick,<br>trembling slightly.</p><p>I sit there.</p><p>Open.</p><p>Breathing hard.</p><p>The room returns in pieces.</p><p>The fan.<br>The darkness.<br>The echo of the train,<br>long gone,<br>but still inside me.</p><p>I look at myself again.</p><p>There is no distance now<br>between who I am<br>and what I see.</p><p>My skin is flushed.<br>My hair disordered.<br>My mouth still parted slightly<br>as if the soul hasn&#8217;t finished speaking.</p><p>But my eyes&#8212;</p><p>my eyes hold something<br>I recognize immediately.</p><p>Not softness.</p><p>Not compliance.</p><p>Authority.</p><p>The world has always wanted me diluted.</p><p>Easier to hold.<br>Easier to name.<br>Easier to consume<br>without consequence.</p><p>It has asked me to translate myself<br>into something palatable.</p><p>To take sharpness<br>and call it grace.</p><p>To take hunger<br>and call it restraint.</p><p>To take desire<br>and bury it under politeness.</p><p>But here&#8212;</p><p>in this room,<br>in this woman,<br>with my hand still marked by myself&#8212;</p><p>there is no translation.</p><p>No reduction.</p><p>No permission asked.</p><p>I understand with complete clarity:</p><p>nothing outside of me<br>has jurisdiction here.</p><p>Not expectation.<br>Not gaze.<br>Not history.</p><p>My body is not a negotiation.</p><p>It does not exist to be softened<br>Into easier to accept pieces.</p><p>It does not exist<br>to carry the weight of other people&#8217;s comfort.</p><p>No veil of allegory,<br>nor does it rest upon an altar of offering.</p><p>It is a place.</p><p>A precise,<br>unchangeable place</p><p>where I exist fully.</p><p>Where I am not interpreted,<br>not adjusted,<br>not made smaller.</p><p>Where I am not becoming&#8212;</p><p>I am.</p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!43vJ!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fff7402d8-fd34-4bcc-9647-b0b217516b50_1195x50.png" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!43vJ!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fff7402d8-fd34-4bcc-9647-b0b217516b50_1195x50.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!43vJ!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fff7402d8-fd34-4bcc-9647-b0b217516b50_1195x50.png 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!43vJ!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fff7402d8-fd34-4bcc-9647-b0b217516b50_1195x50.png 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!43vJ!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fff7402d8-fd34-4bcc-9647-b0b217516b50_1195x50.png 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!43vJ!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fff7402d8-fd34-4bcc-9647-b0b217516b50_1195x50.png" width="1195" height="50" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/ff7402d8-fd34-4bcc-9647-b0b217516b50_1195x50.png&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:50,&quot;width&quot;:1195,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:6378,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/png&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true,&quot;topImage&quot;:false,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:null,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!43vJ!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fff7402d8-fd34-4bcc-9647-b0b217516b50_1195x50.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!43vJ!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fff7402d8-fd34-4bcc-9647-b0b217516b50_1195x50.png 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!43vJ!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fff7402d8-fd34-4bcc-9647-b0b217516b50_1195x50.png 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!43vJ!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fff7402d8-fd34-4bcc-9647-b0b217516b50_1195x50.png 1456w" sizes="100vw" loading="lazy"></picture><div></div></div></a></figure></div><div><hr></div><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://sapphrapoetry.substack.com/?utm_source=substack&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_content=share&amp;action=share&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Share Sapphra Undone | Poetry&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://sapphrapoetry.substack.com/?utm_source=substack&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_content=share&amp;action=share"><span>Share Sapphra Undone | Poetry</span></a></p><h2>Author&#8217;s Note</h2><p>I wrote this piece as an examination into how erotic self-touch can take on a political meaning when the body resists control. My aim was for the language to remain physical and unapologetic instead of metaphorical. The mirror acts not as a judge but as a witness. The train represents both sound and sensation. The conclusion isn&#8217;t a revelation but an act of recalling. </p><p><em><strong>Which line resonated with you the most?</strong></em></p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://sapphrapoetry.substack.com/p/midnight-train-poem/comments&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Leave a comment&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://sapphrapoetry.substack.com/p/midnight-train-poem/comments"><span>Leave a comment</span></a></p><div><hr></div><p><strong>If something here resonated with you, please feel free to share your thoughts.&nbsp;</strong>Your likes, comments, and shares genuinely make my day brighter! </p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://sapphrapoetry.substack.com/p/midnight-train-poem?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email&utm_content=share&action=share&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Share&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://sapphrapoetry.substack.com/p/midnight-train-poem?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email&utm_content=share&action=share"><span>Share</span></a></p><div><hr></div><div class="subscription-widget-wrap-editor" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://sapphrapoetry.substack.com/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe&quot;,&quot;language&quot;:&quot;en&quot;}" data-component-name="SubscribeWidgetToDOM"><div class="subscription-widget show-subscribe"><div class="preamble"><p class="cta-caption">Sapphra Undone is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, please consider taking our relationship to the next level and becoming a paid subscriber.</p></div><form class="subscription-widget-subscribe"><input type="email" class="email-input" name="email" placeholder="Type your email&#8230;" tabindex="-1"><input type="submit" class="button primary" value="Subscribe"><div class="fake-input-wrapper"><div class="fake-input"></div><div class="fake-button"></div></div></form></div></div><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://ko-fi.com/sapphraundone&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Buy me a coffee &#10084;&#65039;&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://ko-fi.com/sapphraundone"><span>Buy me a coffee &#10084;&#65039;</span></a></p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://www.paypal.com/ncp/payment/88TQ3SLH2AAAQ&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Support my writing with PayPal&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://www.paypal.com/ncp/payment/88TQ3SLH2AAAQ"><span>Support my writing with PayPal</span></a></p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!bZTq!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F1ee16c03-b4fd-49a8-9f4c-d43359799743_1195x200.png" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!bZTq!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F1ee16c03-b4fd-49a8-9f4c-d43359799743_1195x200.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!bZTq!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F1ee16c03-b4fd-49a8-9f4c-d43359799743_1195x200.png 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!bZTq!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F1ee16c03-b4fd-49a8-9f4c-d43359799743_1195x200.png 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!bZTq!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F1ee16c03-b4fd-49a8-9f4c-d43359799743_1195x200.png 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!bZTq!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F1ee16c03-b4fd-49a8-9f4c-d43359799743_1195x200.png" width="459" height="76.82008368200837" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/1ee16c03-b4fd-49a8-9f4c-d43359799743_1195x200.png&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:200,&quot;width&quot;:1195,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:459,&quot;bytes&quot;:153892,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/png&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true,&quot;topImage&quot;:false,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:null,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!bZTq!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F1ee16c03-b4fd-49a8-9f4c-d43359799743_1195x200.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!bZTq!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F1ee16c03-b4fd-49a8-9f4c-d43359799743_1195x200.png 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!bZTq!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F1ee16c03-b4fd-49a8-9f4c-d43359799743_1195x200.png 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!bZTq!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F1ee16c03-b4fd-49a8-9f4c-d43359799743_1195x200.png 1456w" sizes="100vw" loading="lazy"></picture><div></div></div></a></figure></div><div><hr></div><h6><strong>&#169; 2026 Sapphra Poetry. All rights reserved. No part of this post may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form without prior written permission. For reuse requests, contact: <a href="https://open.substack.com/users/420093355-sapphra?utm_source=mentions">Sapphra</a>.</strong></h6><p></p>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[Ablution ]]></title><description><![CDATA[A poem about devotion, water, and the slow trust between two people]]></description><link>https://sapphrapoetry.substack.com/p/ablution-immersive-poem</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://sapphrapoetry.substack.com/p/ablution-immersive-poem</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[Sapphra | Poetry]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Sat, 11 Apr 2026 10:01:36 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!K-Kd!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F03d008a0-2561-4b69-b1e9-0ec5f2742e12_1200x630.png" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://sapphrapoetry.substack.com/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe now&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://sapphrapoetry.substack.com/subscribe?"><span>Subscribe now</span></a></p><div><hr></div><p><em>I'm thrilled to share my entry for the Smut Stroll, a wonderful collection of sensual Substack erotica available for free. </em></p><p><em>You can explore links to all the talented artists involved right&nbsp;<a href="https://open.substack.com/pub/ellalight69/p/free-smut-stroll-through-the-erotic?r=69s84b&amp;selection=5f9e543c-cd27-4fc3-ba0e-d525b7c7cdaf&amp;utm_campaign=post-share-selection&amp;utm_medium=web&amp;aspectRatio=instagram&amp;textColor=%23ffffff&amp;bgImage=true">here.</a></em></p><div><hr></div><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!K-Kd!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F03d008a0-2561-4b69-b1e9-0ec5f2742e12_1200x630.png" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!K-Kd!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F03d008a0-2561-4b69-b1e9-0ec5f2742e12_1200x630.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!K-Kd!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F03d008a0-2561-4b69-b1e9-0ec5f2742e12_1200x630.png 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!K-Kd!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F03d008a0-2561-4b69-b1e9-0ec5f2742e12_1200x630.png 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!K-Kd!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F03d008a0-2561-4b69-b1e9-0ec5f2742e12_1200x630.png 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!K-Kd!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F03d008a0-2561-4b69-b1e9-0ec5f2742e12_1200x630.png" width="1200" height="630" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/03d008a0-2561-4b69-b1e9-0ec5f2742e12_1200x630.png&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:630,&quot;width&quot;:1200,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:329187,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/png&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:false,&quot;topImage&quot;:true,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:&quot;https://sapphrapoetry.substack.com/i/193641981?img=https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F03d008a0-2561-4b69-b1e9-0ec5f2742e12_1200x630.png&quot;,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!K-Kd!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F03d008a0-2561-4b69-b1e9-0ec5f2742e12_1200x630.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!K-Kd!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F03d008a0-2561-4b69-b1e9-0ec5f2742e12_1200x630.png 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!K-Kd!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F03d008a0-2561-4b69-b1e9-0ec5f2742e12_1200x630.png 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!K-Kd!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F03d008a0-2561-4b69-b1e9-0ec5f2742e12_1200x630.png 1456w" sizes="100vw" fetchpriority="high"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg role="img" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><title></title><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><div><hr></div><p>Lately, I&#8217;ve noticed that <em>devotion</em> keeps recurring as a theme in my poetry. It&#8217;s not a big, dramatic gesture, but something quieter. It shows up in the way hands move, a quick breath, or the calm that comes when you let yourself be still. My latest poem, &#8220;Ablution,&#8221; started with the feeling of water on skin and the closeness between two people, making something common feel sacred. I wanted the poem to begin gently and let intimacy build slowly. I hoped it would rise from under the surface, like warmth. I tried to trust my body to guide me to where pleasure and surrender meet and to let it remember its own wisdom.</p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://sapphrapoetry.substack.com/?utm_source=substack&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_content=share&amp;action=share&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Share Sapphra Undone | Poetry&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://sapphrapoetry.substack.com/?utm_source=substack&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_content=share&amp;action=share"><span>Share Sapphra Undone | Poetry</span></a></p><div><hr></div><h3><em>Ablution</em></h3><div class="preformatted-block" data-component-name="PreformattedTextBlockToDOM"><label class="hide-text" contenteditable="false">Text within this block will maintain its original spacing when published</label><pre class="text">the mirror blurs slowly,
an unseen veil drifting across its surface.
steam gathers, patient and deliberate&#8212;
the room already half-holy
in its silence.

the faucet stills,
water whispering in intervals,
measuring its own gravity
before slipping into the pool below.
the scent of sandalwood lingers&#8212;
part smoke, part promise&#8212;
the first language of cleansing.
air gathers, listening.

each footstep softens across tile&#8212;
a slow approach into shimmer.
I pause in the doorway, bare,
golden light moving over the bath,
over his body half-submerged in waiting,
eyes closed,
as if listening for the voice of water.

wax slips down the nearest candle,
a single drop <em>caught in reflection</em>.
I step in, slowly.
temperature gathers at my calves,
then climbs.

each inch deliberate,
the air folding around us.
nerves alight in sequence,
<em>a constellation awakening beneath the surface.</em>

heat presses against my stomach&#8212;
like memory made liquid.

I lower myself inch by inch
until the bath closes around me,
the day's residue melting
into a single note of relief.

I lean back into him,
the curve of my spine
fitting the shape of his steady chest;
both of us caught in suspended translation.
muscles yield like petals opening.

his hands rest on my hips&#8212;
calm, certain&#8212;
the quiet articulation of skin against skin.
each ripple carries a fragment of sound;
each exhale, a promise spoken backward.
<em>stillness undoes me more completely than motion ever could.</em>

the water moves when we move;
small waves break against porcelain.
the sound repeats&#8212;soft, rhythmic&#8212;
<strong>time finding its heartbeat again.</strong>

he draws oil slowly across my collarbone,
his fingers gentle, precise.
I can smell it now&#8212;amber, myrrh,
faintly floral.
the strokes deliberate;
he studies the motion,
not looking up&#8212;
each movement a silent prayer.

he sketches warmth down,
along the swells of my breasts,
across my hardening nipples.
I rise into it&#8212;
a slow ache unfolding between my thighs.
his hands speak without hurry,
their weight a language
that rearranges time.

each gesture feels ceremonial&#8212;
a quiet sanctification.
he consecrates me with his need;
his cock thickens beneath me,
ridge pressing, throbbing
against the small of my back.
I answer with surrender&#8212;
a communion between want and wait.
<em>worship begins where thought forgets itself.</em>

his breath follows&#8212;
a fragrant invocation&#8212;
a current unfurling along my neck.
where it touches, the night deepens;
distance folds inward.
his mouth finds the place beneath my jaw,
where <strong>pulse turns visible</strong>.

steam coils upward,
supple, alive,
curling over the rim of the bath
as though the air itself
were discovering desire&#8217;s shape.

he tastes the hollow of my throat&#8212;
perfume and submission.
each becomes reverence.
his lips move,
tracing a psalm only we know.

my skin trembles beneath his mouth;
each shiver a ribbon drawn tight between us.
he traces again, slower&#8212;
along ribs,
carving paths down my belly,
searching for the place where longing
turns luminous.
water rises as his hands lower,
each motion answered by ripples.

his reverent fingertips
grazes the confluence of my open thighs&#8212;
velvet folds slick, swollen, wanting.

I lift into him, through his touch;
his middle finger parting my pussy,
worshipping the firm peak of my waiting clit.
slow circles, tender edges&#8212;
each stroke an offering.

he pushes his thick finger into me, deeper,
a slide, a drag, the quiet insistence of craving.
the space between us closes into breath.

not restraint, but devotion&#8212;
a vow made flesh,
where trembling becomes holy,
and desire finds its altar.
the bath listens,
folding wave into wave.

I turn my body toward him,
straddling his hips,
his hands find my waist&#8212;
the surface shifts around us.
his eyes open to meet mine&#8212;
<strong>the moment unhurried, absolute.</strong>

sweat beads along the slope of his shoulder,
droplets melting into the water.
his fingers slide up the line of my spine,
up the nape of my neck,
into my tousled hair,
weaving, gathering a fistful of strands.
I arch, and the room tilts&#8212;
the bathwater shivers
around us like liquid silk.

then our mouths and tongues find each other.
simply, without warning.
the patience of ritual.
the silence changes pitch;
our breaths merge, unseen.

a joining of heat and breath,
the water folding around us
as if to keep momentum.

steam thickens;
candles lean toward us.

he anoints me,
no words, only movement,
hands moving lower, slower&#8212;
gliding from shoulders
down hollowed sides,
settling at pillowed curves of my hips,
the cradles of creation
where gravity and grace converge.

pure devotion.

his hands follow the outline of my hips,
legs parting farther.
our bodies learn obedience
to each gasp;
hips align, friction blooms.
he murmurs something
that <em>feels like prayer</em>,
and I catch it on my tongue,
letting the syllables dissolve&#8212;
sweet and saline, air turning to promise.

each gesture holds its own gravity.
sound presses against sound;
he moves;
the water follows, circling his wrists,
folding between us.

I lower my hips
onto his waiting cock,
slowly,
allowing him to fill me, 
stretch me with his girth&#8212;
like tide returning home.

the air thickens with sound&#8212;
a moan, a pulse, a soft intake of need.
heat builds beneath the surface;
my hands find his back,
anchoring us in one shared sea.

his hips find mine;
my hips answer
in rhythm&#8212;slow, steady, deep&#8212;
<em>the sentence of need written in motion.</em>

our bodies become billows
meeting mid&#8209;current,
rising, breaking, falling back into themselves.
each kiss deepens;
time halts within its own breath.

I want to stay here,
in equilibrium&#8212;
movement and stillness intertwined;
his skin sliding beneath my palms.
we lose track
of what separates us.

the cadence builds,
his body a wave,
mine the shore rising to meet it
again and again;
water slapping softly against porcelain.
every thrust folds into the next&#8212;
silk into salt, breath into breath.

the candle flickers, steadies.
we move together&#8212;
water breaking, reforming&#8212;
finding rhythm again.

his hands curve around me,
learning as they go;
my breath matches his;
neither of us counts it.
<em>infinity measured by skin alone.</em>

the ritual deepens.
his breath inside my hair;
my nails against his back.
the scent between us shifts&#8212;
what was sweat becomes incense.
each thrust a cleansing,
each sigh a vow unspoken.

my fingers mark him,
his mouth baptizes me;
my body answers, surrendering;
each gasp <em>a prayer breaking open.</em>

light sprawls through the rising steam&#8212;
rose&#8209;gold, almost holy.
sound falls away.
only cadence remains&#8212;
what we have built, entire.

he becomes water&#8212;
relentless, patient&#8212;
washing me clean of thought
until my body gleams,
the reflection of his want,
the soft collapse of restraint.

this is our cleansing&#8212;
undoing thought, rinsing silence.
each gasp a purification,
a devotion renewed;
until we exist as trembling flesh,
made new in hunger
that sanctifies each other.

and in that crescendo,
we come apart&#8212;
not in pain,
but revelation.

the silence after carries truth.
I tremble, emptied, complete;
his hands stay on my hips,
<strong>proof and absolution joined.</strong>

quiet descends over us.
his breath settles along my shoulder.
he holds my face,
thumb tracing the outline of it.
our lips meet again&#8212;
gratitude turned to touch;
in the golden aftermath,
the water gathers around us once more.

I whisper, stay,
<em>the word forming itself from pulse and warmth,</em>
and it holds.

for a long instant,
we do.
we remain&#8212;
within the ocean of each other,
washed, quiet, awake.
the water breathes back,
each ripple <em>a hymn for survival.</em>

there is no ending,
only continuation&#8212;
the faint echo of touch rising,
the accentuation still traveling through porcelain&#8212;
<em>an eternal ablution,
rising again.</em>

outside,
the mirror clears enough
to find our shapes.
we look almost still&#8212;
two figures blurred into myth.

<em>what remains is silence,
and the silence keeps us.</em></pre></div><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!RwzI!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F863403a1-5d68-4b03-a55d-6d054407c3b4_1195x50.png" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!RwzI!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F863403a1-5d68-4b03-a55d-6d054407c3b4_1195x50.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!RwzI!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F863403a1-5d68-4b03-a55d-6d054407c3b4_1195x50.png 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!RwzI!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F863403a1-5d68-4b03-a55d-6d054407c3b4_1195x50.png 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!RwzI!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F863403a1-5d68-4b03-a55d-6d054407c3b4_1195x50.png 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!RwzI!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F863403a1-5d68-4b03-a55d-6d054407c3b4_1195x50.png" width="1195" height="50" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/863403a1-5d68-4b03-a55d-6d054407c3b4_1195x50.png&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:50,&quot;width&quot;:1195,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:6378,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/png&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true,&quot;topImage&quot;:false,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:&quot;https://sapphrapoetry.substack.com/i/193641981?img=https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F863403a1-5d68-4b03-a55d-6d054407c3b4_1195x50.png&quot;,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!RwzI!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F863403a1-5d68-4b03-a55d-6d054407c3b4_1195x50.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!RwzI!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F863403a1-5d68-4b03-a55d-6d054407c3b4_1195x50.png 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!RwzI!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F863403a1-5d68-4b03-a55d-6d054407c3b4_1195x50.png 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!RwzI!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F863403a1-5d68-4b03-a55d-6d054407c3b4_1195x50.png 1456w" sizes="100vw" loading="lazy"></picture><div></div></div></a></figure></div><div><hr></div><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://sapphrapoetry.substack.com/p/ablution-immersive-poem?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email&utm_content=share&action=share&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Share&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://sapphrapoetry.substack.com/p/ablution-immersive-poem?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email&utm_content=share&action=share"><span>Share</span></a></p><p><strong>Afterword:</strong><br>Every time I edited &#8220;Ablution,&#8221; it changed a little. Each version revealed something new. Sometimes it was a sharper edge or more softness. As the poem grew warmer, it became increasingly assured in its slow rhythm. I&#8217;m still learning to write this way by taking my time and letting myself sink into the process. I tried to let this poem guide me and follow where it led me instead of forcing it to conform. Like intimacy, it needed patience and time to unfold. In the end, only a sort of quiet ecstasy remained.</p><p><strong>Which lines stirred something deep inside you?</strong></p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://sapphrapoetry.substack.com/p/ablution-immersive-poem/comments&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Leave a comment&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://sapphrapoetry.substack.com/p/ablution-immersive-poem/comments"><span>Leave a comment</span></a></p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!lmRh!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fcc3c9c15-7f04-4e97-bf6d-0ea9a5fa31b7_1195x200.png" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!lmRh!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fcc3c9c15-7f04-4e97-bf6d-0ea9a5fa31b7_1195x200.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!lmRh!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fcc3c9c15-7f04-4e97-bf6d-0ea9a5fa31b7_1195x200.png 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!lmRh!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fcc3c9c15-7f04-4e97-bf6d-0ea9a5fa31b7_1195x200.png 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!lmRh!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fcc3c9c15-7f04-4e97-bf6d-0ea9a5fa31b7_1195x200.png 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!lmRh!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fcc3c9c15-7f04-4e97-bf6d-0ea9a5fa31b7_1195x200.png" width="585" height="97.90794979079497" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/cc3c9c15-7f04-4e97-bf6d-0ea9a5fa31b7_1195x200.png&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:200,&quot;width&quot;:1195,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:585,&quot;bytes&quot;:153892,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/png&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true,&quot;topImage&quot;:false,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:null,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!lmRh!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fcc3c9c15-7f04-4e97-bf6d-0ea9a5fa31b7_1195x200.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!lmRh!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fcc3c9c15-7f04-4e97-bf6d-0ea9a5fa31b7_1195x200.png 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!lmRh!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fcc3c9c15-7f04-4e97-bf6d-0ea9a5fa31b7_1195x200.png 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!lmRh!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fcc3c9c15-7f04-4e97-bf6d-0ea9a5fa31b7_1195x200.png 1456w" sizes="100vw" loading="lazy"></picture><div></div></div></a></figure></div><div><hr></div><div class="subscription-widget-wrap-editor" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://sapphrapoetry.substack.com/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe&quot;,&quot;language&quot;:&quot;en&quot;}" data-component-name="SubscribeWidgetToDOM"><div class="subscription-widget show-subscribe"><div class="preamble"><p class="cta-caption">Sapphra Undone is a reader-supported publication. 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All rights reserved. No part of this post may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form without prior written permission. For reuse requests, contact: <a href="https://open.substack.com/users/420093355-sapphra?utm_source=mentions">Sapphra</a>.</strong></h6>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[Breathless: The Art of Letting Yourself Be Seen]]></title><description><![CDATA[A poem about the courage and beauty of being truly seen by another.]]></description><link>https://sapphrapoetry.substack.com/p/love-poetry-breathless-intimacy</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://sapphrapoetry.substack.com/p/love-poetry-breathless-intimacy</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[Sapphra | Poetry]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Wed, 11 Mar 2026 10:03:28 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!dGWB!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F10cf010d-57a4-4fca-bb94-a3f60cc23c43_1200x630.png" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<p class="button-wrapper" 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srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!dGWB!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F10cf010d-57a4-4fca-bb94-a3f60cc23c43_1200x630.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!dGWB!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F10cf010d-57a4-4fca-bb94-a3f60cc23c43_1200x630.png 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!dGWB!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F10cf010d-57a4-4fca-bb94-a3f60cc23c43_1200x630.png 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!dGWB!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F10cf010d-57a4-4fca-bb94-a3f60cc23c43_1200x630.png 1456w" sizes="100vw" fetchpriority="high"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg role="img" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><title></title><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><div><hr></div><p>In a world obsessed with performance &#8212; in love, in life, even in vulnerability &#8212; we often forget the quiet courage it takes to be truly seen. Standing, unarmored, before another person and not offering perfection, only presence. This poem was born from that moment. That trembling, electric pause when connection stops being conceptual and becomes something felt in the body.</p><p><em>Breathless</em> isn&#8217;t just a spicy poem; it&#8217;s a story of surrender. It explores what happens when touch becomes a language, and emotion moves through the body and the breath. It asks: What if the deepest form of intimacy and desire isn&#8217;t just about possession or pleasure, but about being seen, fully and without defense?</p><p>In writing this, I wanted to capture not the spectacle of passion, but its stillness, the holy space where longing and peace coexist. Where two people dissolve the boundaries between them, and for one infinite heartbeat, remember they were never separate to begin with.</p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://sapphrapoetry.substack.com/?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email&utm_content=share&action=share&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Share Sapphra Undone | Poetry&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://sapphrapoetry.substack.com/?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email&utm_content=share&action=share"><span>Share Sapphra Undone | Poetry</span></a></p><div><hr></div><h3><em>Breathless</em></h3><div class="preformatted-block" data-component-name="PreformattedTextBlockToDOM"><label class="hide-text" contenteditable="false">Text within this block will maintain its original spacing when published</label><pre class="text">I stand breathless,
the world reduced
to the space between us&#8212;
a narrow altar
where only our bodies exist.

His hand discovers mine,
fingers weaving
with quiet certainty,
a low current
traveling through my veins.

The air is heavy
with rain&#8209;washed earth
and the subtle, honeyed warmth
of his skin,
the trembling scent of want.

His palm presses
into mine,
a small, private cartography
of promise.

My throat tightens;
my pulse stammers,
a fierce, intimate rhythm
against the sudden rush
inside me.

The room dissolves
into stillness,
into breath,
into him.

His other hand
finds my cheek,
grazing so lightly
it feels like a spoken secret&#8212;
and in that whisper
of contact,
a wildfire of yes
between my thighs.

I lean into him,
close the small distance,
falling into the gravity
of his wanting,
my breath snagging
as his mouth finds mine.

The world disappears.
It is not a kiss&#8212;
it is <em>recognition.</em>
A flood breaking open.
Every nerve singing,
every boundary undone.

<em>Slow. Claiming. Reverent.</em>

His breath weaves into mine,
into sensation:
the soft insistence
of his lips,
the warmth
of his body
against mine,
the electric tether
where our skin aligns.

Time thins,
then folds in on itself.
Past and future dissolve;
there is only
this luminous present.

His taste&#8212;
salt, rain,
the echo of
something ancient.
The way his fingers
tighten just so&#8212;
an anchor
and an invitation.

I am seen&#8212;
completely, vulnerably&#8212;
terrified by how holy
and transcendent
hunger feels.

My heart doesn&#8217;t merely beat;
it chants&#8212;
a pure sound,
clear, aching notes
vibrating in every tender
corner of me.

I am weightless,
buoyed in a wash
of golden light;
my body spilling
onto the edge of his,
mingling, blurring
together.

A silent cry of joy&#8212;
the body&#8217;s prayer,
the soul&#8217;s surrender
that reverberates
through my being.

For one infinite moment,
I am not separate.
I am whole.
I am home.
<em>I am bliss.</em></pre></div><div><hr></div><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!FKw1!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F85d5cfe4-fedc-4e8b-a4e0-06edc2815758_1195x50.png" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!FKw1!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F85d5cfe4-fedc-4e8b-a4e0-06edc2815758_1195x50.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!FKw1!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F85d5cfe4-fedc-4e8b-a4e0-06edc2815758_1195x50.png 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!FKw1!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F85d5cfe4-fedc-4e8b-a4e0-06edc2815758_1195x50.png 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!FKw1!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F85d5cfe4-fedc-4e8b-a4e0-06edc2815758_1195x50.png 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!FKw1!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F85d5cfe4-fedc-4e8b-a4e0-06edc2815758_1195x50.png" width="1195" height="50" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/85d5cfe4-fedc-4e8b-a4e0-06edc2815758_1195x50.png&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:50,&quot;width&quot;:1195,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:6378,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/png&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true,&quot;topImage&quot;:false,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:&quot;https://sapphrapoetry.substack.com/i/190548887?img=https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F85d5cfe4-fedc-4e8b-a4e0-06edc2815758_1195x50.png&quot;,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!FKw1!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F85d5cfe4-fedc-4e8b-a4e0-06edc2815758_1195x50.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!FKw1!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F85d5cfe4-fedc-4e8b-a4e0-06edc2815758_1195x50.png 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!FKw1!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F85d5cfe4-fedc-4e8b-a4e0-06edc2815758_1195x50.png 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!FKw1!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F85d5cfe4-fedc-4e8b-a4e0-06edc2815758_1195x50.png 1456w" sizes="100vw" loading="lazy"></picture><div></div></div></a></figure></div><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://sapphrapoetry.substack.com/p/love-poetry-breathless-intimacy?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email&utm_content=share&action=share&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Share&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://sapphrapoetry.substack.com/p/love-poetry-breathless-intimacy?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email&utm_content=share&action=share"><span>Share</span></a></p><p><em><strong>Did this piece stir something in you that aches for connection, that soft yes that lives beneath the skin? Which line stuck with you?</strong></em></p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://sapphrapoetry.substack.com/p/love-poetry-breathless-intimacy/comments&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Leave a comment&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://sapphrapoetry.substack.com/p/love-poetry-breathless-intimacy/comments"><span>Leave a comment</span></a></p><p>I invite you to subscribe.  Join me in exploring the spaces where language meets the body, and where poetry becomes a pulse.</p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!lmRh!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fcc3c9c15-7f04-4e97-bf6d-0ea9a5fa31b7_1195x200.png" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!lmRh!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fcc3c9c15-7f04-4e97-bf6d-0ea9a5fa31b7_1195x200.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!lmRh!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fcc3c9c15-7f04-4e97-bf6d-0ea9a5fa31b7_1195x200.png 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!lmRh!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fcc3c9c15-7f04-4e97-bf6d-0ea9a5fa31b7_1195x200.png 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!lmRh!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fcc3c9c15-7f04-4e97-bf6d-0ea9a5fa31b7_1195x200.png 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!lmRh!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fcc3c9c15-7f04-4e97-bf6d-0ea9a5fa31b7_1195x200.png" width="585" height="97.90794979079497" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/cc3c9c15-7f04-4e97-bf6d-0ea9a5fa31b7_1195x200.png&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:200,&quot;width&quot;:1195,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:585,&quot;bytes&quot;:153892,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/png&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true,&quot;topImage&quot;:false,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:null,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!lmRh!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fcc3c9c15-7f04-4e97-bf6d-0ea9a5fa31b7_1195x200.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!lmRh!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fcc3c9c15-7f04-4e97-bf6d-0ea9a5fa31b7_1195x200.png 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!lmRh!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fcc3c9c15-7f04-4e97-bf6d-0ea9a5fa31b7_1195x200.png 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!lmRh!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fcc3c9c15-7f04-4e97-bf6d-0ea9a5fa31b7_1195x200.png 1456w" sizes="100vw" loading="lazy"></picture><div></div></div></a></figure></div><div><hr></div><div class="subscription-widget-wrap-editor" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://sapphrapoetry.substack.com/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe&quot;,&quot;language&quot;:&quot;en&quot;}" data-component-name="SubscribeWidgetToDOM"><div class="subscription-widget show-subscribe"><div class="preamble"><p class="cta-caption">Sapphra Undone is a reader-supported publication. 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All rights reserved. No part of this post may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form without prior written permission. For reuse requests, contact: <a href="https://open.substack.com/users/420093355-sapphra?utm_source=mentions">Sapphra</a>.</strong></h6>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[Velvet]]></title><description><![CDATA[A poem about patient longing and the way attention lingers.]]></description><link>https://sapphrapoetry.substack.com/p/velvet-dangerous-slow-enough-to-haunt</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://sapphrapoetry.substack.com/p/velvet-dangerous-slow-enough-to-haunt</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[Sapphra | Poetry]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Wed, 25 Feb 2026 07:02:41 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!KrmH!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F707c27ef-6f33-4f46-ac5b-67d4bbfb82c2_1200x630.png" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!qKo9!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ff7f3d0d9-fafb-48ee-9b88-217baef8b33a_784x411.png" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!qKo9!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ff7f3d0d9-fafb-48ee-9b88-217baef8b33a_784x411.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!qKo9!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ff7f3d0d9-fafb-48ee-9b88-217baef8b33a_784x411.png 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!qKo9!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ff7f3d0d9-fafb-48ee-9b88-217baef8b33a_784x411.png 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!qKo9!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ff7f3d0d9-fafb-48ee-9b88-217baef8b33a_784x411.png 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!qKo9!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ff7f3d0d9-fafb-48ee-9b88-217baef8b33a_784x411.png" width="784" height="411" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/f7f3d0d9-fafb-48ee-9b88-217baef8b33a_784x411.png&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:411,&quot;width&quot;:784,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:272285,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/png&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:false,&quot;topImage&quot;:true,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:&quot;https://sapphrapoetry.substack.com/i/189092855?img=https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F707c27ef-6f33-4f46-ac5b-67d4bbfb82c2_1200x630.png&quot;,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!qKo9!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ff7f3d0d9-fafb-48ee-9b88-217baef8b33a_784x411.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!qKo9!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ff7f3d0d9-fafb-48ee-9b88-217baef8b33a_784x411.png 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!qKo9!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ff7f3d0d9-fafb-48ee-9b88-217baef8b33a_784x411.png 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!qKo9!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ff7f3d0d9-fafb-48ee-9b88-217baef8b33a_784x411.png 1456w" sizes="100vw" fetchpriority="high"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg role="img" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><title></title><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p>Sometimes the most intimate and intense moments are less about release and more about intimate recognition. It's the one place where attention itself becomes devotion. Writing this immersive poem brought up the idea that slowness isn't hesitation but power. In art, in sex, in love&#8212;it&#8217;s what makes anything stay.</p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://sapphrapoetry.substack.com/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe now&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://sapphrapoetry.substack.com/subscribe?"><span>Subscribe now</span></a></p><div><hr></div><p><strong>Come closer now.<br></strong>Just let the space between us lose its nerve.</p><p>That is always how it starts for you.<br>Not with contact, but with that moment when <em>the air gives up</em>,<br>when the room decides it belongs to us now<br>and rearranges itself accordingly.</p><p>You do not rush first touches.<br>You let them come looking for me.</p><p><strong>Kiss me&#8212;<br></strong>but before that, notice how still I have gone.<br>Notice how my body has already decided<br>even if my mouth has not.</p><p>There is a particular tension,<br>right before your lips touch me,<br>a <em>soft violence</em> in the waiting,<br>and you savor it the way some people savor the aftermath.</p><p>When you finally lean in, you do it slowly enough<br>I wonder if you are going to stop.</p><p>Let doubt flicker&#8212;just for a second.<br><strong>Doubt sharpens the intensity of desire.<br></strong>Certainty dulls it.</p><p>Your mouth meets mine</p><p>not like an answer,<br>but like a question<br>you are not afraid to ask twice.</p><p>You let the kiss stay light at first,<br>almost polite,<br>as if you are pretending restraint<br>is not already unraveling inside you.</p><p>You like that kind of kiss&#8212;<br>the kind that behaves well in public spaces<br>while making us think obscene, delicious thoughts.</p><p>Taste my patience.<br>Taste how carefully I am holding myself together.</p><p>You can feel it, can&#8217;t you?<br>That subtle wetness beneath my softness&#8212;<br>the way I am waiting to be undone,<br>wanting to be fucked by you.</p><p><strong>Stay there.<br></strong>Longer than is reasonable.</p><p>Long enough that the kiss forgets its original intention<br>and becomes something else entirely&#8212;<br>a place,<br>a temperature,<br>a <em>low purr under the skin.</em></p><p>You kiss me like you are listening.<br>Like you are learning the rhythm of my body&#8217;s restraint.</p><p>The smallest changes tell you everything:<br>how my breath shifts,<br>how my mouth opens a fraction more than before,<br>how I tease your mouth with my tongue.</p><p>The air knows what is coming.<br>It thickens slightly&#8212;<br>a prelude disguised as stillness.</p><p><em>Attention sharpens its edges.<br></em>It is the heightened attention, always,<br>that is the beginning of the undoing.</p><p>Fabric loosening from skin&#8212;<br>a hush that announces nothing more<br>than the weight of presence.</p><p>You study the landscape:<br>the mounds and valleys of my body,<br>the shallow rise of breath,<br>the stillness that clenches at the edges.</p><p><em>A woman mapped in desire.</em></p><p>You trace where thought hides in my body.<br>When you touch me finally, it is with the confidence of study&#8212;<br>not dominance.</p><p>Skin yields from faint recognition,<br>not surprise.</p><p>The first glide of fingers is inquiry: <em>here?<br></em>The second, affirmation.</p><p>Skin answers before our mouths can.<br>Its vocabulary is pressure and release.<br>A <strong>grammar of circular persuasion.</strong></p><p>You trail from my shoulders<br>to my breasts,<br>taking my nipples between your thick fingers&#8212;<br>the slow archaeology of ecstasy.</p><p>Each pinch: a ripple of fire blooming from the peak,<br>cascading through my body in waves.<br>Each gasp, an artifact restored.</p><p>Heat builds quietly&#8212;part friction, part attention.</p><p>You trace along my curves,<br>breast, belly, core&#8212;<br>lower&#8212;drifting slowly,<br>wheedling my resistance&#8217;s logic to collapse.</p><p>You feel my tremor when reason gives up,<br>when thought admits sensation its due.<br>That quiver&#8212;small, involuntary&#8212;<br>is what you work toward.</p><p>Your hands glide my landscape, patient, unassuming,<br>finding my aching, wet pussy&#8212;<br>not to claim it,<br>but to feel how close I already am.</p><p><em>Distance becomes theoretical.</em></p><p>My body responds before my mind does&#8212;<br>bodies are honest that way.</p><p>Desire warms the tips of your fingers,<br>scent ascending: cedar, citrus, heat.</p><p>You slowly part my velvet folds,<br>memorizing how my pussy adjusts under your touch&#8212;<br>the subtle surrender of tension<br>that still believes it is choosing.</p><p>The rhythm steadies:<br>long strokes, delicate circles, deliberate, symmetrical.</p><p>Fingers become sentences that never end.<br>Each one reformulates the thesis of touch:<br><strong>pleasure equals focus.</strong></p><p>I let you enter me,<br>savoring your thick fingers opening me, readying me.<br>I place my hand over yours,<br>guiding the rhythm, keeping you in me.</p><p><em>You feel so good.</em></p><p>I think about the quiet politics of control&#8212;<br>how giving it feels almost the same as taking it.<br>A guided hand still chooses every motion.</p><p>I do not beg you to fuck me&#8212;<br>I let my breathing say it.</p><p>I let the motion of my hips bruise slightly<br>until it ripens into permission.</p><p>I pull your body close,<br>hungry hands feeding on you.<br>When I reach for your cock,<br><strong>heat blooms&#8212;thick, throbbing, alive.</strong></p><p>I almost cum just touching you.</p><p>Beneath both of us runs a current:<br><em>the low electricity of anticipation.</em></p><p>Pressure deepens.</p><p>My nails dig into your ass,<br>pulling you closer.<br>I cannot wait another moment.</p><p>I lift my hips&#8212;<br>an erotic offering.<br>I call to you through my body.</p><p><strong>You ask what I want.<br></strong>Your name leaves my mouth instead of an answer.</p><p>Not because I mean to say it&#8212;<br>but because my body does.</p><p>You smile then.<br>Slow.<br>Satisfied.</p><p>That is when you enter me&#8212;<br>not suddenly,<br>but with the confidence of someone<br>who knows they&#8217;ve been invited.</p><p>The tip of your cock slides against my wet, hot, hungry opening.<br>I sigh.</p><p>You do not rush.</p><p>You learn me inch by inch,<br><strong>translating want into language.</strong></p><p>The first thrust is a question,<br>the next, an answer.<br>Every stroke rewrites permission.</p><p>You fuck me like a promise<br>you fully intend to keep&#8212;<br>with no rush in fulfilling.</p><p>Like this&#8212;<br>this exact pressure,<br>this precise slowness&#8212;<br><em>is the point.</em></p><p><strong>Danger lives in slowness.<br></strong>People forget that.</p><p>Fast is obvious.<br>Fast is easy.<br>Slow lets things sink deep enough<br>to become unforgettable.</p><p>Every slide of your cock into me<br>sounds like language.</p><p>Our desire-slick skin amplifies breath<br>until it becomes almost musical&#8212;<br>a rhythm built on friction<br>between quiet and contact.</p><p>You keep the rhythm unchanging&#8212;<br><strong>predictability is trust.</strong></p><p>And trust, held long enough,<br>becomes want.</p><p>You don&#8217;t chase my moans.<br>You let them wander out on their own&#8212;<br>guttural, free.</p><p>Your hands map me again,<br>learning where I arch without realizing it.</p><p>You pull me closer,<br>legs on your shoulders&#8212;<br><strong>deeper.</strong></p><p>Balls pressed to my skin&#8212;<br><strong>undeniable.</strong></p><p>I feel different like this.<br>More open.<br>More honest.<br>More willing.</p><p>Your fingers brush my asshole&#8212;<br>gentle, deliberate&#8212;<br>while your cock fucks me deep.</p><p>You slide a finger in without warning,<br>so soft it almost feels accidental.<br>You want me to feel chosen,<br>not handled.</p><p>When you press deeper,<br><em>even my pussy quivers.</em></p><p>The sound I make earns its place in memory.<br>Not a moan&#8212;<br>just <strong>relief shaped like desire.</strong></p><p>You let me feel how much you love it,<br>how much you want me to grant you pleasure.</p><p>That is the danger.<br>That is the edge.</p><p>You pull out just enough<br>to let the absence speak.<br>To let me feel where your finger was<br>and where it could return.</p><p>My breath stutters.<br>Good.</p><p>Then your rhythm shifts&#8212;<br>angles change,<br>intensity finds a new shape.</p><p>Variation without escalation.<br>That is where this intoxication lives.</p><p>You grow bolder,<br>faster,<br>deeper.</p><p>Each thrust carries weight&#8212;<br>not pressure,<br>but <strong>gravity.</strong></p><p>You fuck me until thinking feels unnecessary.<br>Until our world narrows to moans, breath,<br>and the soft friction of closeness.<br>Until time loosens its grip<br>and melts at the edges.</p><p>My pussy tightens around you,<br>waves pulling you inward.<br>Your cock surges&#8212;<br>a pulsing arc through everything unfinished.</p><p>The sounds we make<br>belong not to pain but recognition&#8212;<br><em>euphoria.</em></p><p>We cum together,<br>riding the wave&#8212;<br>a fleeting fusion<br>of tension and release.</p><p>You collapse on me,<br>head resting on my breasts.<br>Our breathing tangles.<br>You match my exhale.</p><p>You let the heat sit silently between us&#8212;<br>alive, watching.</p><p>Silence is better.</p><p>You kiss me once more,<br>gentler now,<br>almost tender&#8212;<br>and then pull away completely.</p><p>Not because you have to.<br><strong>Because you can.</strong></p><p>You leave me like that&#8212;<br>warm, unsteady,<br>aware of my pulsing pussy in a new way&#8212;<br>knowing I will remember this<br>not as something that happened,<br>but as something that <em>stayed.</em></p><p>That is how you fuck.</p><p><strong>Velvet.<br>Dangerous.<br></strong><em>Slow enough to haunt.</em></p><div><hr></div><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!M4nj!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F8b4f5143-ed78-4714-978c-dcfc6616e379_1195x50.png" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!M4nj!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F8b4f5143-ed78-4714-978c-dcfc6616e379_1195x50.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!M4nj!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F8b4f5143-ed78-4714-978c-dcfc6616e379_1195x50.png 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!M4nj!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F8b4f5143-ed78-4714-978c-dcfc6616e379_1195x50.png 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!M4nj!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F8b4f5143-ed78-4714-978c-dcfc6616e379_1195x50.png 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!M4nj!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F8b4f5143-ed78-4714-978c-dcfc6616e379_1195x50.png" width="1195" height="50" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/8b4f5143-ed78-4714-978c-dcfc6616e379_1195x50.png&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:50,&quot;width&quot;:1195,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:3734,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/png&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true,&quot;topImage&quot;:false,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:&quot;https://sapphrapoetry.substack.com/i/189092855?img=https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F8b4f5143-ed78-4714-978c-dcfc6616e379_1195x50.png&quot;,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!M4nj!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F8b4f5143-ed78-4714-978c-dcfc6616e379_1195x50.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!M4nj!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F8b4f5143-ed78-4714-978c-dcfc6616e379_1195x50.png 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!M4nj!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F8b4f5143-ed78-4714-978c-dcfc6616e379_1195x50.png 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!M4nj!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F8b4f5143-ed78-4714-978c-dcfc6616e379_1195x50.png 1456w" sizes="100vw" loading="lazy"></picture><div></div></div></a></figure></div><p>If this stirred something deep inside you, let your desire show.&nbsp;<em><strong>Your likes, restacks, and comments are my favorite kind of foreplay. </strong></em></p><p>Craving more? <em><strong>Subscribe</strong></em>, and I&#8217;ll slip my next sexy verse straight into your inbox.</p><p></p>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[What Remains After Fire]]></title><description><![CDATA[A lyrical poem about the slow, lingering ache of remembering.]]></description><link>https://sapphrapoetry.substack.com/p/what-remains-after-fire</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://sapphrapoetry.substack.com/p/what-remains-after-fire</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[Sapphra | Poetry]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Wed, 31 Dec 2025 22:12:57 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/addaff54-723f-4967-aab4-77345d9e944f_1200x630.png" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!TFGl!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa294c5f2-903c-4a58-8d4d-669a18db0c4e_1200x630.png" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!TFGl!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa294c5f2-903c-4a58-8d4d-669a18db0c4e_1200x630.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!TFGl!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa294c5f2-903c-4a58-8d4d-669a18db0c4e_1200x630.png 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!TFGl!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa294c5f2-903c-4a58-8d4d-669a18db0c4e_1200x630.png 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!TFGl!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa294c5f2-903c-4a58-8d4d-669a18db0c4e_1200x630.png 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!TFGl!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa294c5f2-903c-4a58-8d4d-669a18db0c4e_1200x630.png" width="1200" height="630" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/a294c5f2-903c-4a58-8d4d-669a18db0c4e_1200x630.png&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:630,&quot;width&quot;:1200,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:290800,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/png&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:false,&quot;topImage&quot;:true,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:&quot;https://sapphrapoetry.substack.com/i/183077906?img=https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa294c5f2-903c-4a58-8d4d-669a18db0c4e_1200x630.png&quot;,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!TFGl!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa294c5f2-903c-4a58-8d4d-669a18db0c4e_1200x630.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!TFGl!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa294c5f2-903c-4a58-8d4d-669a18db0c4e_1200x630.png 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!TFGl!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa294c5f2-903c-4a58-8d4d-669a18db0c4e_1200x630.png 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!TFGl!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa294c5f2-903c-4a58-8d4d-669a18db0c4e_1200x630.png 1456w" sizes="100vw" fetchpriority="high"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg role="img" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><title></title><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p>There are experiences our bodies remember more faithfully than language ever could. These memories return not as narrative, but as heat, pressure, ache. They arrive through the skin before thought has time to intervene. Desire leaves behind a vocabulary that lives below words, and poetry becomes one of the few ways to listen to and understand it without apology.</p><p>This poem lingers in that space: not at the moment of touch alone, but in its aftermath, in how intimacy alters rooms, time, and the body that carries memory forward. What follows is not a story told outward, but an immersion.</p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://sapphrapoetry.substack.com/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe now&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://sapphrapoetry.substack.com/subscribe?"><span>Subscribe now</span></a></p><div><hr></div><h3>What Remains After Fire</h3><div class="preformatted-block" data-component-name="PreformattedTextBlockToDOM"><label class="hide-text" contenteditable="false">Text within this block will maintain its original spacing when published</label><pre class="text">Before him,
my body was already listening&#8212;
skin alert, breath misaligned,
that subtle imbalance
that knows what is coming.
The room held its distance.
The dark waited.
Even my pulse
leaned forward.

He slid into me
like fevered midnight&#8212;
slow, inevitable&#8212;
the dark already leaning in.
Each breath sparked,
then drove deeper,
heat discovering its power.
Our whispers thinned to sound,
to what the throat makes
when words fail.

In his eyes,
a raw hunger&#8212;
ancient, exposed,
still questioning.
It touched me
before his hands did,
that gravity,
that quiet claim.

His mouth traced heat
down my neck,
lingering where my pulse lived.
We shifted, flushed,
found the place where wanting
turns reckless.
The night drank our names
and kept them.

His touch undressed my world.
Walls relaxed.
Light neglected itself.
There was only skin
answering skin,
a charge beneath the surface.
We hovered there,
balanced on ache,
holding the moment
until it insisted.

Then we fell&#8212;
not sudden,
but intense&#8212;
into desire widening
with every breath.
In that black,
we burned,
forgot the room,
forgot the measure of time.

He was heat and pressure
on my tongue,
a sonnet I learned
by surrender.
Between thrusts,
we whispered defiance,
as if choosing each other
were rebellion.
What we made
stayed unspoken elsewhere.

Between us,
distance collapsed&#8212;
from continents
to inches,
to the fragile space
between inhale and reply.
Every part of you
became somewhere I lingered.
Love, then,
was the practice of staying
without asking how long.

His body confessed against mine&#8212;
daring, assured,
yet listening.
Each touch stripped me
closer to need,
left me trembling,
alive in a way
almost unbearable.
Together we spoke lust
without language,
our silence louder
than any vow.

His fingers tuned my skin,
silk drawn tight over heat.
Between us pulsed a rhythm&#8212;
wild,
almost holy&#8212;
until we became it.
We were desire
forgetting its own caution.

He left weather
blooming between my thighs,
heat lingering
where I wanted it to stay.
Breath to breath,
we disappeared into wanting
until the world narrowed
to weight,
warmth,
and his mouth&#8212;
so near it felt like being named.

I worshipped his wildness
with shaking hands,
traced heat along his spine,
learned where he softened.
His sounds guided me,
kept me steady in the dark.
He shattered me
slowly,
deliberately.

After we spent each other,
the room remained altered.
The sheets held our heat,
then let it go.
I lay listening
as my pulse relearned quiet,
my body still reaching
toward where he had been.
Even absence felt warm,
as if he had just stepped away.

Time returned carefully.
Dark thinned.
Silence settled.
Yet my skin kept listening.
Every small sound
felt like it might be him,
every shift of air
a nearly-touch.

Now,
when evening softens
and shadows lengthen,
memory enters
through the body first.
Heat stirs&#8212;familiar.
Want wakes.

I carry him
in how my breath changes,
in the way my skin leans
toward warmth.
What we made did not end.
It loosened,
spread,
became this ache
that knows my name.

If love is what remains
after the fire dims,
then this longing
is proof.</pre></div><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Jxev!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F1c5f51fa-3ef4-47f5-8433-f947b8af29a6_1080x1350.png" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Jxev!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F1c5f51fa-3ef4-47f5-8433-f947b8af29a6_1080x1350.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Jxev!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F1c5f51fa-3ef4-47f5-8433-f947b8af29a6_1080x1350.png 848w, 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https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!SXR5!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F65dd2a82-d923-4688-ba28-bb578a864a69_1195x50.png 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!SXR5!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F65dd2a82-d923-4688-ba28-bb578a864a69_1195x50.png 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!SXR5!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F65dd2a82-d923-4688-ba28-bb578a864a69_1195x50.png 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!SXR5!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F65dd2a82-d923-4688-ba28-bb578a864a69_1195x50.png" width="1195" height="50" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/65dd2a82-d923-4688-ba28-bb578a864a69_1195x50.png&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:50,&quot;width&quot;:1195,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:6378,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/png&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true,&quot;topImage&quot;:false,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:&quot;https://sapphrapoetry.substack.com/i/183077906?img=https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F65dd2a82-d923-4688-ba28-bb578a864a69_1195x50.png&quot;,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!SXR5!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F65dd2a82-d923-4688-ba28-bb578a864a69_1195x50.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!SXR5!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F65dd2a82-d923-4688-ba28-bb578a864a69_1195x50.png 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!SXR5!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F65dd2a82-d923-4688-ba28-bb578a864a69_1195x50.png 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!SXR5!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F65dd2a82-d923-4688-ba28-bb578a864a69_1195x50.png 1456w" sizes="100vw" loading="lazy"></picture><div></div></div></a></figure></div><p>Desire does not end where touch does. It lingers, alters, teaches the body how to remember. I write from that place, from the moments where intimacy stays alive long after the room has gone quiet.</p><p>If this poem spoke to you, <em>I invite you to subscribe</em>. I share work here that lives in the body: sensual, reflective, and unafraid of intensity. New poems arrive regularly, and subscribers receive them first, quietly, directly, and without dilution.</p><p></p>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[Lingering Desire]]></title><description><![CDATA[A poem that captures the haunting rhythm of a night that lingers in the memory.]]></description><link>https://sapphrapoetry.substack.com/p/lingering-desire</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://sapphrapoetry.substack.com/p/lingering-desire</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[Sapphra | Poetry]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Sat, 13 Dec 2025 02:04:21 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!iA2t!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F1e5a3877-17e7-4819-b03c-883d2e0483f0_819x614.jpeg" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!iA2t!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F1e5a3877-17e7-4819-b03c-883d2e0483f0_819x614.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!iA2t!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F1e5a3877-17e7-4819-b03c-883d2e0483f0_819x614.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!iA2t!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F1e5a3877-17e7-4819-b03c-883d2e0483f0_819x614.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!iA2t!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F1e5a3877-17e7-4819-b03c-883d2e0483f0_819x614.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!iA2t!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F1e5a3877-17e7-4819-b03c-883d2e0483f0_819x614.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!iA2t!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F1e5a3877-17e7-4819-b03c-883d2e0483f0_819x614.jpeg" width="819" height="614" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/1e5a3877-17e7-4819-b03c-883d2e0483f0_819x614.jpeg&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:614,&quot;width&quot;:819,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:56362,&quot;alt&quot;:&quot;woman in white brassiere and panty sitting on bed&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/jpeg&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:false,&quot;topImage&quot;:true,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:null,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="woman in white brassiere and panty sitting on bed" title="woman in white brassiere and panty sitting on bed" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!iA2t!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F1e5a3877-17e7-4819-b03c-883d2e0483f0_819x614.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!iA2t!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F1e5a3877-17e7-4819-b03c-883d2e0483f0_819x614.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!iA2t!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F1e5a3877-17e7-4819-b03c-883d2e0483f0_819x614.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!iA2t!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F1e5a3877-17e7-4819-b03c-883d2e0483f0_819x614.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw" fetchpriority="high"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg role="img" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><title></title><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a><figcaption class="image-caption">Photo by <a href="https://unsplash.com/@garinchadwick">Garin Chadwick</a> on <a href="https://unsplash.com">Unsplash</a></figcaption></figure></div><p>Some nights begin with a whisper. It is a quiet, almost imperceptible stir. But it always ends with your skin still humming, resonating with the echo of memory.</p><p>This immersive piece will carry you through that kind of night: slow, pulsing, and unforgettable, each moment lingering just long enough to sink in.</p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://sapphrapoetry.substack.com/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe now&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://sapphrapoetry.substack.com/subscribe?"><span>Subscribe now</span></a></p><div><hr></div><div class="preformatted-block" data-component-name="PreformattedTextBlockToDOM"><label class="hide-text" contenteditable="false">Text within this block will maintain its original spacing when published</label><pre class="text">Nights with you begin in my body&#8212;
not in metaphor, not in thought,
but in the warm press of your body against mine,
your breath gliding down the hollow of my neck
until the rest of the world dissolves
into throbs and heat.

I feel you before I see you:
your heat claiming the bed,
your desire tightening against the back of my thigh,
your hands&#8212;slow, deliberate&#8212;
exploring all the places I haven&#8217;t named
but you know by instinct,
as if my body were your secret language
you were born fluent in.

The dark deepens around us.
My pulse mounts.
your tongue grazes my shoulder,
and something in me unlocks
with dangerous ease.

I turn toward you,
and the look in your eyes&#8212;
focused, hungry, unhesitating&#8212;
pulls me under harder than any undercurrent.

I want you everywhere at once.
I want your fingers, your tongue,
your slow claiming of space
between my thighs.

i am yours
like tides lapping for 
moonlight&#8217;s kiss&#8212;
pulled, aching, undone

even if stars break
scatter envy across my skin
my paradise is you&#8212;
bare, breathless, radiant

Your paradise is real.
It is your hands traveling my breasts,
your fingers memorizing the quiver of my spine,
your mouth lingering at the place
my breath betrays me,
drawing every sensation to the surface
until I can hardly think&#8212;
only sense, only want, only you.

You touch me like you&#8217;re tracing a fragile relic
you&#8217;ve waited your whole life to touch.
Each pull of your burning lips
rewrites my body in fire.

When I moan your name,
your whole composure edges,
and desire tightens between us&#8212;
charged, slow, and spellbound
in the way only worship can be.

I lean into you.
You answer with intensity.
The room bends.
The air grows heavy.

My thoughts shatter like embers.
gripped in your hands.

I ache for the patience of your touch&#8212;
how you play at the edge of a breath,
how your palms explore with satisfaction
that feels like possession,
devotion sharpened to want.

Even stillness becomes futile.
My body lifts to meet yours
before I can choose restraint.

You summon sounds from me
I would deny the world itself&#8212;
only you,
only here,
only now.

If the universe needed a rhythm
to anchor itself,
it would take the cadence
of your throbbing against my body&#8212;
deep, steady, demanding&#8212;
the one that pulls me back
into the burning center of us
again and again.

You teach me a fevered tenderness,
one that pulses on the edge
of submitting and want.

I find my way back to you,
like flesh recalling
the memory of its ache.

So remain&#8212;
not as freedom,
but as fire,
as longing,
as the will that unravels me
until I am only thirst
and the outline your touch
etches into night.

I give myself to you, always&#8212;
in the glow, in the silence,
in the trembling dark
where our bodies know each other
not by name,
but by the heat they create.

And when the night grows intense,
when time blurs,
when everything else falls away,
I will still find you&#8212;
bare, breathless, luminous&#8212;
and collapse into the place
where desire becomes release
and release becomes you.
</pre></div><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!poP9!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe1495c09-c5ca-4b4a-8641-a070bfb447f6_1195x50.png" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!poP9!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe1495c09-c5ca-4b4a-8641-a070bfb447f6_1195x50.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!poP9!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe1495c09-c5ca-4b4a-8641-a070bfb447f6_1195x50.png 848w, 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srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!poP9!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe1495c09-c5ca-4b4a-8641-a070bfb447f6_1195x50.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!poP9!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe1495c09-c5ca-4b4a-8641-a070bfb447f6_1195x50.png 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!poP9!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe1495c09-c5ca-4b4a-8641-a070bfb447f6_1195x50.png 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!poP9!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe1495c09-c5ca-4b4a-8641-a070bfb447f6_1195x50.png 1456w" sizes="100vw"></picture><div></div></div></a></figure></div><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!uqPM!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fd1981ad2-6c2c-43c2-a7aa-969b68c8a673_1080x1350.png" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!uqPM!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fd1981ad2-6c2c-43c2-a7aa-969b68c8a673_1080x1350.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!uqPM!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fd1981ad2-6c2c-43c2-a7aa-969b68c8a673_1080x1350.png 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!uqPM!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fd1981ad2-6c2c-43c2-a7aa-969b68c8a673_1080x1350.png 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!uqPM!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fd1981ad2-6c2c-43c2-a7aa-969b68c8a673_1080x1350.png 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!uqPM!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fd1981ad2-6c2c-43c2-a7aa-969b68c8a673_1080x1350.png" width="1080" height="1350" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/d1981ad2-6c2c-43c2-a7aa-969b68c8a673_1080x1350.png&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:1350,&quot;width&quot;:1080,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:601414,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/png&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:false,&quot;topImage&quot;:false,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:&quot;https://sapphrapoetry.substack.com/i/181448943?img=https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fd1981ad2-6c2c-43c2-a7aa-969b68c8a673_1080x1350.png&quot;,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!uqPM!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fd1981ad2-6c2c-43c2-a7aa-969b68c8a673_1080x1350.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!uqPM!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fd1981ad2-6c2c-43c2-a7aa-969b68c8a673_1080x1350.png 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!uqPM!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fd1981ad2-6c2c-43c2-a7aa-969b68c8a673_1080x1350.png 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!uqPM!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fd1981ad2-6c2c-43c2-a7aa-969b68c8a673_1080x1350.png 1456w" sizes="100vw"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg role="img" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><title></title><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><div><hr></div><p>Surrender to the flow and let yourself be entirely lost to the rhythm.</p><p><strong>If this stirred something deep inside you, let your desire show.</strong> Your likes, restacks, and comments are my favorite kind of foreplay. Craving more? Subscribe, and I&#8217;ll slip my next sexy verse straight into your inbox.</p><div><hr></div><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://sapphrapoetry.substack.com/p/lingering-desire?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email&utm_content=share&action=share&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Share&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://sapphrapoetry.substack.com/p/lingering-desire?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email&utm_content=share&action=share"><span>Share</span></a></p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://sapphrapoetry.substack.com/p/lingering-desire/comments&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Leave a comment&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://sapphrapoetry.substack.com/p/lingering-desire/comments"><span>Leave a comment</span></a></p><p></p>]]></content:encoded></item></channel></rss>